Keron Challenge
by santizhizi
Summary: Everything went from bad to worse after they are forced to participate in a strange game. Whether to win or to lose is not their own choice. Idea comes from a Chinese movie 极限挑战.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was an ordinary day. The Hinatas were doing ordinary things as usual. Natsumi and Koyuki were listening to "623 my radio", Fuyuki and Momoka were doing research for occult club's next presentation. Aki was working extra hours. There was nothing unusual happening, at least not on the surface.

Dozens of meters below, six alien invaders were having their daily invasion meeting. Five keronians sat around the table, while Angol Mois stood by with a sweet smile. On the whiteboard behind her wrote countless absurd invasion plans that had been discarded.

"Why can't we come up an adequate plan?" Keroro slumped on the chair, looking at the rotating fan on the ceiling.

Giroro gave a snort of derision. "When was the last time we had an executable plan?" After staying here for two hours, he's obviously become impatient.

"73 days ago in pekopon calendar." Kururu answered casually. He leaned back on his chair with his feet on the desk, resting leisurely.

Tamama rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. In fact he paid more attention to his Coca Cola than the meeting.

Dororo still sat straight on his seat silently.

Mois stepped up to massage Keroro's shoulders at the right time. "You could say, have no clue?" She didn't notice Tamama's jealousy in his eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"Keroro decided to simply give up further efforts. "Enough for this meeting. Now dismiss-"

Before he finished the "s", piercing sound of sirens were everywhere. Hidden warning lights also flashed blindingly.

"Kero?! Why would a 'dismiss' trigger the alarm? Anything wrong with it?"

Kururu was uncharacteristically serious. "It's none of your business...Kukuku, too bad, strong pulse of gravitational waves detected. Space-time shockwaves are on the way. Run or die." With that he took out a button from nowhere, ignoring the confused looks of others. "Press it!" Kururu's chair transformed into a hovercraft in the blink of an eye, flying to the exit without waiting.

Other platoon members processed that information with great difficulty. "Anyway, run!" Tamama muttered "Is this a prank of Kururu-senpai?" but he still followed with no more protest.

"It's safe when we get out. The space-time structure in secret base has been stretched so it's not stable. That's why it's vulnerable to space-time shockwaves. " This is the fastest explanation for his teammates to understand, apart from Keroro.

"What? Wait- I didn't get it!" Keroro gasped. He didn't know what was happening, the only thing in his mind was running for his life.

Hyper-space portal connected to Keroro's room was right in front of them, but Kururu past it without looking at it twice. Keroro didn't think much and rushed into the portal, into "safety"...

Keroro heard a loud "Bang" and saw lights. He felt like his body was stretched along with the space, and the moment lasted for an eternity...

Consciousness came back to Keroro suddenly. He looked around but didn't see anything except darkness, nor did he heard anything. A cold feeling crawled up his spine. "Am... Am I dead? No! There are so many Gunpla models to assemble, so many manga to read, so many-"

"Shut up, you moron!" Giroro's slap effectively brought back Keroro's sanity. It turned out the surroundings are not entirely dark but dimly lighted, just bright enough to make out his five teammates. And those five were all looking at him.

Mois hugged Keroro in excitement. "Mois is so happy that Oji-sama is safe~" Keroro tried moving his limbs but found something was off. "Mois-dono... When did you turn back to your ture form? And why is everyone... floating?"

The figure looked like Kururu facepalmed. "Why does every author make me to do the explanation... Forget it. You went through the portal at the wrong time, which caused the gravitational waves to resonate. As a result, the shockwaves arrived much earlier and created a wormhole. Now we are probably thrown into another universe. Although we can survive in this universe for now, we don't even know how much the fundamental laws have changed. This is not going to end well. From what we know, at least- "

Giroro tried summoning his guns with a gesture, but nothing happened.

" -the hyper-space connection is disabled- "

Tamama gave his trademark blow a test, but failed as well.

" -and we cannot wield dark energy to use our attacks."

Dororo has already made similar attempts. "Perhaps being alive itself is a bless for us."

Keroro scratched his head. "So what are we going to do?"

"Right question!" The mysterious voice spoke abruptly, startling everyone. The unisex voice came from all directions. Since Keroro platoon still had their translator (and anti-barrier and environmental regulator) on, they didn't notice which language it's using. Everyone was on guard except for a puzzled Keroro.

"Take it easy, guests~ I have no ill intention. Your abilities may have been deprived, but it's merely an accident. And I believe such inconvience won't spoil the Game~" The unknown being spoke with a velvet tone, which only made his/her words sound more dangerous.

"Game?" Six aliens looked at each other, unaware of the meaning but automatically recalled that odd and perilous RPG game, Kishi To Musha To Tensetsu No Kaizoku. Not so good.

"Don't worry, my Game is much better than Gemumu's~ No burdensome quests, no troublesome artes. You don't need to kill mobs all the day for a level-up, because there are only a few levels to play. Elimination game, only one winner. Isn't it easy enough?"

"Is that even a game?" Tamama scorned.

The voice might have sensed their boredom, and began to lure them. "As for the prize for the winner... What about dominating the world, possessing the whole universe, and fulfilling every wish?"

The atmosphere changed suddenly, and the mysterious being took a step forward. Six crystals appeared before them, which looked like the five ones they got on Planet Sengoku. But they are more acute on the end, from 72 degree to 60 degree, and there was a pink one.

The crystals flew into their hands. Giroro scrutinized it for a while. "What's this?"

"They are your certificate in the Game. Don't lose them, or you will automatically lose."

"I have no intention to join this game. Can I give it back?" Dororo handed out the blue crystal calmly.

"Oh, it's a first time. But my answer is, NO. In my Game, you have no right to leave!"

The tone darkened sharply, and there was thundering noise everywhere. Cracks can be seen on the dim background, and light emerges there.

"No more chat. Game start!"

Before being enveloped by the light and lose consciousness, Keroro only had one thought: No, not once again...

Gravity was back. They fell on the ground. Keroro got up and dusted himself off. Everyone has got an afro as if having been in an explosion. And this dusty room is...

"This place is...this is my room! No! This is the basement of the Hinatas!"

Kururu was thoughtful. "The energy leaked from two wormholes shouldn't have been this huge..."

They went unstairs and investigated the Hinatas. 5 minutes later, they came to a conclusion.

1\. This was a parallel universe where they had never come to Pekopon.

2\. No one was around, and it's the same in the distance. All kinds of signals were cut off.

3\. The hyper-space connection and dark energy were still disabled. Mois was merely a normal girl with strange costume.

Giroro looked at the clearing in the backyard that was his tent, holding the belt which gave him strength. "Natsumi..."

Tamama grabbed a pack of snack from living room. "Does that mean we will never meet Momochi and others?"

"Not necessarily." Kururu's glasses flashed. "If the mysterious being was telling the truth, after someone win this game and dominate the world, what cannot be achieved? Everyone, do you still have your crystal?"

"We can't believe every word it said, but now we don't have a better plan." Dororo appeared from nowhere. "There was no one out there, and invisible walls are blocking every direcion except for one."

Keroro understood. "So this game thing lacks free choice. Only one main storyline?"

"You could say, The Adventure Line?"

Keroro put away his green crystal, opened the front gate. "In that case, let's join this treasure hunt game. Keroro platoon, set off!"

In the direction they were heading, at the foot of Nishizawa Tower, a group of people appeared. A blond guy lighted a cigarette, looking at the oppositing direction, gave a snort of contempt.


	2. Chapter 2

With a speed that can be compared with a snail, Keroro platoon reached the Nishizawa Tower in the end, thanks to Keroro's so-called "investigation" in every single Gunpla shop. Anyhow, when they arrived at their destination, they saw not only the tower, but also a group of people. The leading blond sat in an armchair, surrounded by a dozen of men in black. The scene looked extremely like an over-arrogant riche showing off his wealth.

*Cough* No matter how he seemed like a moron, he was still the first human being they met in this world. Now that this is a game, they don't need to prevent being spotted by pekoponian, greeting him is an appropriate choice, isn't it?

So they did. Take Kururu as an example. He sat on the opposite chair, staring at the pekopon who is thrice his size with his arm folded, showing a high degree of zhuangbility.

Between the two chairs is an untouched shogi chessboard. Kururu picked up a piece, played the "flashing glasses" trick again. "You appearance is screaming 'not a boss but a sidekick'. So let's skip the small talk part. Say what's needed." With that he placed that piece on chessboard. Not an ordinary move, but a smart one.

The silly-looking blond took in a deep breath, as if calming himself. "Straightforward enough. Alright. Let me introduce myself. I'm the keeper of level 1, Lord Golden Lion!"

...

...

...

After three seconds' silence, Keroro platoon burst out laughing.

"Ha-ha-ha, oh I can't help... Lord, Lord Golden Lion, what a funny name!"

"This game is a joke from the very beginning, don't you think so?"

"I can see that they have no talent in creating names, hahahaha..."

"Shut up!" Lord Golden Lion smacked his hand on the table, but Kururu didn't stop at all. "Kukuku- You are going to destroy your own table- kukukuku..."

"Laugh at your will. See if you can laugh out at MY gamerule." He stood up and walk towards the Nishizawa tower.

Kururu raised an eyebrow- if he had one. "I thought there would be a shogi game."

Lord Golden Lion turned back and showed them a "gyoku-shou" piece in hand, then crushed it. "What? Playing shogi? Hell no! You are all my pieces!"

Half an hour later, six members in Keroro platoon were told the rules and prepared. They approached the tower. Two three-men team near the two ladders on both sides respectively.

Hearing the whistling, Keroro, Tamama and Mois got a hold of the rungs and began climbing.

(20 minutes earlier)

 _"The gamerule is simple. Keroro platoon form two three-men team and climb the tower by hand. There are twelve buttons dispersed along the tower, six of which are golden while six are silver. You must press every button of your own team when climbing. Who finish the task and make sure all three of you get to the top win. Losers give out crystals. You can take measures to win and no one could blame you. The only taboo is breaking the buttons. He who breaks the button will be eliminated immediately. Now team up."_

 _Tamama and Mois both chose to be with Keroro, so others automatically become a team._

 _"Because of camouflage, silver buttons are much harder to find. To balance the teams, Keroro's team will use golden button."_

 _Tamama exploded with anger. "What do you mean by that? Gunso-san and me are invincible!" Keroro covered Tamama's mouth in time. "No, don't listen to his boast. We are fine with it..." Keroro said with a fake smile and whispered. "Stop being overconfident! Don't forget that He is in that team..."_

(at present)

Keroro's team climbed the ladders slowly, stopping now and then to look for and press a hidden button.

Keroro looked out at Giroro and Kururu, who could climb ladders at their full speed, and the bluish blur that was too fast to distinguish. Half of his confidence died out.

"Kero... Why? Why is that, after losing assassin msgic, he could still use ninja's skill..."

(10 minutes earlier)

 _Giroro looked up at the tower, having no clue. Those silver buttons were impossible to be seen from undernesth, which means they had to backtrack over and over just for the buttons. How could they win?_

 _Rule 1: Never let the red one do the planning._

 _Kururu turned to Dororo. "How long does it take for you to reach the top?"_

 _Dororo looked at the 300-meter-high Nishizawa Tower. "25 seconds. I have limitations."_

 _Kururu smirked. "Enough. The gamerule didn't say we have to press the buttons from the bottom to the top. It doesn't hurt if you finish the task by yourself."_

 _Dororo had wanted to argue, but said nothing else. "Understand."_

(at present)

Dororo leaped down, pressed the last button, then took a sharp turn, going up swiftly. He just need to wait for Giroro and Kururu at the top before they win.

But is victory what he wanted? He had no interest in this game. But others are different. Especially... Three loser in level 1? Is it possible to give his crystal to someone else? Anyway, he needed to get to the top-

The tower start shaking. He almost missed a step. Earthquake? No, it's not-

The source of this vibration was delivering death glares. He held on to the rebar. The tower's body above him had visibly bent.

Tamama grinned, swaying the tower with his super strengh again. "DIE!"

Dororo sighed. The gamerule didn't ban disturbance like this, although this cannot really disturb him, but...

A yellow and a red keronians couldn't catch up any longer, falling down at the same time.

Despite keronian's high resistance to impact, such a height is still dangerous. Does Tamama truly want to win?

He didn't have time to hesitate but rushed down the tower. Catching them with both hands, landing on the ground lightly.

Giroro had hardly recovered from the shock. He looked up and saw the height they've fallen, then looked down and saw Kururu who hurt his leg before falling down. He punched on the ground, knowing they couldn't win at this state. "Tch- We were winning! If I have a gun, how can I lose?!"

"Kukuku~ Don't jump to conclusions. We are not the only things falling off."

The other two looked in the direction he pointed, a golden button lay not far from them.

"Tamama, out." Icy voice came from all directions.

"Wait, what? Why?" Wronged as he felt, Tamama's black crysral was taken away by Lord Golden Lion. Then they were told about the next level.

"The keeper of level 2 is Lord Purple Dragon. He is on the Doinaka Beach."

It didn't taken very long before Tamama was optimistic again. "I don't care! I will help Gunso-san to win! It's even better~"

"Good luck." Said Lord Golden Lion. Looking at Tamama, he chuckled for some unknown reason.

But Tamama didn't know that. "It's far from the Doinaka Beach. Momochi's home is nearby, why don't we spend a night here?"

It's a good suggestion. Most of them were exhausted after this match. They'd better rest for what's awaiting them.

Though living in a big fancy mansion usually lead to horror stories, Tamama knows his way in Nishizawa Mansion. How can there be anything wrong?

Tamama's personal room doesn't exist in this timeline, but the six found a satisfying room for all of them at ease. After all, this is a big mansion.

At midnight, Tamama woke up from a sweet dream. He was hungry. He need snacks.

Before he crossed the door, he saw a dark, dimly glowing figure outside. Tamama was frightened, posing his arms, ready to strike.

"Kukukuku~ What are you doing at this time?" Kururu walked out from the shadow, turned down the lights on his glasses.

"Kururu-senpai? You scared me! I'm going to fetch some snacks. Don't follow me!" He ran away, irritated a bit.

"Dinner room, dinner room... Aha!" Tamama managed to find dinner room by heart. There he saw a delicious-looking cake.

"Itadakimasu~"

Ten seconds later, the nightlight in dinner room went out. Half a cake was left on the table, no one was around.

Back in the bedroom, Dororo also opened the door.

"Why is everyone sleepless tonight?" Kururu asked sarcastically.

"Something was off. This game is weird. I have no clue."

"Ku, everything is weird, like this." Kururu smashed the yellow crystal on the wall with full force, but the crystal didn't even got a scratch. "I don't even know if to win is to win."

Dororo had no word at that. He looked around, taking notice of Tamama's absence. "Where's Tamama-dono?"

Kururu shrugged. "Went to dinner room. Having some snack for three pekopon hours."

Dororo frowned. "Have to go." He vanished in the blink of an eye.

When he get to dinner room, he saw only the half-eaten cake and Tamama's hat.

Keroro platoon searched the whole Nishizawa Mansion for the rest of the night, but no one was able to find him. Again, this is a big mansion.

"Even if Tamama leaves alone, he would at least have his hat on..." Keroro carried the hat, said to no one in particular.

"At this rate we are only wasting time. Let's go to the Doinaka Beach first. Tamama knows this place, maybe he could catch up." Ever since his leg got injured, Kururu changed dramatically, as if worrying about something.

Therefore, the remaining five flew the NPG private plane, heading for the Doinaka Beach at full speed.

* * *

 **PS: In shogi game, the Gyoku-shou (** **玉将）** **piece is also Gyoku (** **玉）** **, while the kanji "** **玉** **" can also read "tama". You know what I mean.**


	3. Chapter 3

On the newly unlocked map of "the Doinaka Beach", a large group of NPC came into being. A bald and fat man waited for Keroro platoon with a faint smile.

Since Tamama was missing, the rest of Keroro platoon couldn't be light-hearted any more. The game they'd thought to be a joke became a survival game all of a sudden. Everyone of them was in deep thought.

They were startled at the sight of a huge crowd on the Doinaka Beach. If not for the blankness in their eyes, they would believe they were back at home.

They landed the plane after the landing gear had deployed, and went to the place where Lord Purple Dragon was. It's too easy to find.

The most popular and familiar site on the Doinaka Beach, the place for Doinaka beach Swimsuit Manzai Contest.

"Will we have a match of telling jokes? Then I'm quite sure about who will lose..." Keroro muttered.

They were stopped by the entrance. A bald and fat man with Hawaiian shirt guarded the gate. He looked down at Keroro platoon and said. "Stop here. What do you have to see Lord Purple Dragon?"

Giroro rolled his eyes. "What do you want? We have no money."

"When did I say money? If anyone of you take part in the Doinaka beach Swimsuit Manzai Contest, you are all allowed to enter."

"Kero..." Keroro thought to himself. They are no longer powerful aliens who can go their way freely. Without dark energy and hyper-space links, they have trouble getting swimsuits, let alone pekoponian suit. How?

"Oji-sama?" Mois called sweetly. "Let Mois join the contest. You could say, everyone has a duty?"

The fat man looked Mois up and down. Since Mois was in her true form and couldn't use dark energy, her antigravity hat and cloak were missing. What was left could pass as a swimsuit.

"OK, I can let you in. But if you want to participate, you have to hand out your crystal. Give me the pink crystal, little girl."

Mois didn't think much and took out the crystal. But Kururu couldn't keep silent, grasped her wrist to stop her. "How can we trust you?" He glared dagger at the guard.

The guard sneered. "For I can block you in this Game forever. Is it enough?"

Kururu clenched his teeth in rage, the blue veins on his forehead protruded out. But even if he's the smartest one here, he didn't have a plan to counter.

"Ku... Right, this game is weird. Everything is weird!"

They entered the site. As was expected, the guard was Lord Purple Dragon himself, and was also the judge. Mois won easily. Her opponents were all stupid NPCs having trouble speaking.

Soon it's the time for prize. Lord Purple Dragon applauded symbolically, and told Keroro platoon about the next level.

"You can find Lord Teal Bat in Kissho Academy, north district. The keronians can go away now, as for you..." Lord Purple Dragon licked his lips. "You have to stay here as the winner."

Kururu would have slapped him in the face if not for his injured leg. The dark aura around him was enough to drive away everyone else.

"I won't stay!" Mois announced firmly. "Mois will never abandon Oji-sama!" She went back to Keroro platoon's side.

"You may well do so." Lord Purple Dragon smiled and showed them the pink crystal. "But this crystal will be mine."

"I don't mind. Let's go, Oji-sama~" Mois didn't change her mind.

Ten minutes later, on the plane flying from the Doinaka Beach to Inner Tokyo.

"Why do they set the locations so randomly. If not for this automatic piloted plane, how much time will we waste on the way!" Keroro leaned on the back of the seat. "Isn't it, Mois-dono?"

No one answered.

"Mois-dono? Mois-dono?"

Inside the control cabin, Kururu cast a glance at the radar. An infrared signal has just disappeared.

"Disappear after losing the crystal? What a cliche..." He said as if he didn't care, but the keystrokes were much louder.

It's easy to find Lord Teal Bat, too. Who else would draw all the curtains in an empty classroom in the daytime?

In that chemical laboratory, Lord Teal Bat looked at the four keronian. He was in a black robe, and his hair seemed to have never been washed.

"Come here. This is the gamerule: all of you need to answer a question. If your answers are the same or half and half, you are all eliminated. If one of you give a different answer, he can choose two others to save. And the left one will be eliminated."

"Kukuku, what question?"

"Friendship or faith, which one is more important? You can discuss first."

Dororo felt the Dejavu of this question. He recalled the old times- friendship lost to money award, the unknown truth of retirement, the betrayal and fight between gun and knife, their attitude shift facing the lava... His choice was "friendship" then, and now it is the same.

But the others will choose friendship, too, won't they? Then everyone will be eliminated. So they should decide who to choose faith.

Kururu spoke out. "You three, come over here. I have something to tell you." His voice was no longer twisted. Instead, he just sounded tired.

"It's clear now. One down at each level, whose life is in an uncertain state. We have to regain the initiative. Maybe the lost ones are not dead yet. Maybe they are at somewhere else. Maybe we can find them if staying at level 3... In short, There must be at least one capable person among those leaving and those staying, so we have measures to deal with either situation."

Keroro held his head high. "In that case, I volunteer to stay. I-"

"-Then we are all doomed." Kururu interrupted Keroro's narcissism. "Leave me behind."

The others were astonished. They didn't know what got into Kururu's head today.

Kururu raised three fingers. "First, I've got an injured leg and no stamina. Second, I have to confirm something. Third-" He looked around, continued with self-mockery. "Owing to my poor popularity, I would have be left behind either way."

They were speechless, because he was more or less telling the truth.

Kururu can't care less about that. Annoying others to no end was always his code, except for now... "Before you leave, let me tell you all my analysis and hypothesis, in case you are too dumb to get to the last level by yourselves. First, this game aims at reducing our number. I don't know what they get from it, but you must try to prevent this outcome. There is also this crystal that has the intensity of absolute rigid body. Break it if possible."

"Time is up. Get ready for the Game." Lord Teal Bat said.

Kururu kept down his voice. "One last hint, when truth is false, lies are true."

Lord Teal Bat let them answer the questions one by one. Kururu said "friendship" uncharacteristically. Keroro and Giroro followed.

They didn't leave a choice... Dororo thought, simply said "faith", and chose Keroro and Giroro to take according to their plan.

"The next level locates in the countryside. This way is more convenient." Lord Teal Bat waved one hand, and a portal appeared before them. The sight on the other side of the portal was familiar.

"This is the home of admiral-dono!" Keroro exclaimed. It was truly Akina's home, but empty.

Kururu bid farewell to everyone. They felt ashamed of themselves for how they see Kururu at ordinary times. The portal closed behind them.

Lord Teal Bat observed Kururu with curiosity, and asked after a long silence. "Why did you lose at this level?"

Kururu ignored him and checked the chemicals in this laboratory. "Who told you I lost? To win is to lose and to lose is to win. Don't play dumb." He began to mix some powder.

Lord Teal Bat glanced at the chemicals Kururu used. "It's useless. What do you expect to find in a high school laboratory? You can compound nothing."

"Do you think I'd take nothing here?" He added a pinch of some powder should be labelled "DANGEROUS" in flashing boldface letters into the mixture. Perhaps he stored it in his earphones.

"Let's wait for the experimental result. Even if I fail, it would only mean the other way is correct." Kururu showed his characteristic laughter.

Mushroom cloud rose in Inner Tokyo.

In the ruins, Lord Teal Bat picked up the yellow crystal. It was in perfect state. He shocked his head, and commented to himself. "Too young too simple, sometimes naive." He put away the crystal. "Was I describing myself, or that winner in the last round?"

* * *

 **Yes the question is from episode 284. You should have a look. And I might write abour Round 1 where Kururu won at last, or I might not.**


	4. Chapter 4

The remaining three members of Keroro platoon went through the portal, and it closed behind them. The first thing they saw was the open front door of grandma Akina's home. The low table and cushion could be seen, yet the one sitting there was not Akina, but a white-haired old man.

"I'm the keeper of level 3, Lord White Eagle. All three of you, decide an order, and come in one by one. After eliminating one of you, go up the hill, look for a small plane, fly to the next level, the top of Mount Fuji. Clear enough? Hurry up. I'm waiting for the first one." After the old man finished his words, the doors slid together, blocking their sights.

Keroro got a chill from the way Lord White Eagle spoke, concentrating on how to avoid danger. After a while he made up his mind. Maintaining a leader posture, he commanded. "I will be the last one. Dororo go there first, and Giroro stay here with me. You both agree, right? So let it be." He didn't give them any chance to voice their opinions. After saying that he just found a comfortable place to rest.

Dororo accepted the arrangement and went into the house with no complaints. Suddenly he recalled his childhood, when he was always the one to explore the way in those "adventures". But it's different now. If he could reduce their risk by being the pioneer, he was willing to take any risk alone.

He sat down beside the low table, waiting patiently, until Lord White Eagle put a revolver on the table.

Dororo couldn't help letting out a wry smile. This was truly the wrong arrangement. They should have let Giroro to be the first. No one knows guns better than him.

Lord White Eagle said coldly. "Can you see this gun? The six chambers are all empty. But-" He put a bullet on the table. "Put this bullet in one of those chambers. Any one of them. Then you leave, and tell the next one to come in. He will use this gun, and shoot himself." He told Dororo all those with a smile.

"In your dreams!" Dororo bounced up, knife unsheathed, visibly enraged. The first three victims merely disappeared, not dead. Why are them forced to kill each other in this level?

"Want to kill me? It's useless. If I'm dead, you will be trapped in this world, this level forever. Even if you don't starve to death, you will never find the other three players."

His words sobered Dororo down. He sat down again, asked the question. "Where are those three?" Anyone, he was only asked to put one bullet in. Maybe he could at least ensure Keroro and Giroro's safety...

"They are at where they should be. Calm down, young man. I haven't finished telling the rules. If the second one shoots but the gun doesn't fire, he will put in the second bullet. Then the third one come in, repeat this process, and the first one again. In other words, after six chambers are all filled, this gun will certainly fire."

That would be his turn... No, the risk was too high. He'd better fill the bullet in the third chamber. So he slipped the bullet in, prepared for his own death.

When he opened the door, he saw Keroro and Giroro quarreling for whatever reason, unable to tell them about this Russian roulette.

They had been friends since childhood, and now they had to kill each other. Although there used to be similar situations, he still felt sad.

Giroro asked immediately. "What's in this level?"

Dororo considered what to tell him. "Your speciality."

Giroro got the meaning easily, entered the house without asking twice.

Rules didn't change. Giroro didn't hesitate when shooting himself. Of course the gun didn't fire. Lord White Eagle gave him the bullet. Giroro smiled seeing it, swung out the cylinder, filled the second bullet into the fifth chamber. Then he rotated the cylinder before closing it. Now the third and sixth chambers had bullets.

When Giroro walked out, Keroro had already known the rules, and was trembling with fright. Giroro patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you won't die. Load the last chamber." Then he continued. "If this level is my speciality, then I will most likely be useless in the next level. There's no such coincidence."

Keroro did everything as he was told in a cold sweat.

Dororo prepared himself again, saying nothing to his teammates, going through the door.

If he could choose, he really hated ending his life in this way. Compared to controllable and graceful cold weapons, guns were too violent for his likes. But he had no choice.

He took a deep breath, pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. Confused, his heart sunk. Why?

Dororo swung the cylinder open, only to find the bullets in the first, fourth and fifth chamber.

Sure enough, he knew nothing about this kind of weapon. Keron army do have trainings on guns, but that's for standard laser guns, which are completely different from guns on earth. Only Giroro knew the mechanical structure of revolvers. And basing on what little he knew about guns, the revolver was sure to fire no matter which chamber he chose.

Not everyone knows the cylinder could be rotated...

Dororo could do nothing but put the bullet in the last chamber. Putting down the gun, determined to kill the manipulator of this game by himself.

Giroro said goodbye to them without any trace of sorrow, as if he was just about to go on a journey.

The door closed. The gun fired. Keroro and Dororo stood in silent tribute for a minute, then they set out to look for the plane.

A track was built on the mountain top. On it was a small two-seat airplane with traditional piston engine and mechanical transmission. Keroro was dumbfounded. "No autopilot? Then how can we-"

Dororo climbed into the pilot seat. Thankfully the plane has been adjusted to fit keronian's size. He checked the fuel tank and flight instruments, motioned to Keroro to board the plane.

Engine start, taxing, climbout, level flight, aiming at Mount Fuji in the south.

Keroro shrank down into his seat. "The last level is coming... I'm afraid, really afraid. I don't want the prize! I want to be in Inner Tokyo, even if I'm the only one left... I fear the last level will be more cruel, I fear that I'm too useless as a leader and will lose anyway... Dororo, can you go to Mount Fuji by yourself? I want to return to Inner Tokyo..."

Dororo understood Keroro's thoughts all too well. He had considered giving up long ago. Beside the pressure of going to the end alone, the nightmare accompanied by that "victory" was enough to drive one crazy. If he hadn't sworn to avenge his teammates, he would never go to Mount Fuji.

But Keroro was different. He could escape from this fate. Inner Tokyo wasn't far from their route. If he could send Keroro back to the Hinatas' home, perhaps he could be safe.

At the thought of saving one of his teammates, Dororo reorient according to the flight instruments, moving the vertical tail to the left. The plane followed.

Suddenly the plane was out of control. The barometer elevation dropped to zero, and the engine was also about to stall. If not for the environmental regulator on their hat, they could have been dead by then.

Dororo yanked the lever back into place, seconds later they were back in the original route. Everything came back to normal.

"Kero... does it mean we are still restricted by the Adventure Line?"

That's the most reasonable explanation. So they could only fly to Mount Fuji.

There was a clearing without snow on the top of Mount Fuji. A young woman in her twenties gazed at the approaching plane. She heaved a sigh, said to herself. "I don't really know, whether I expect this final or not."

* * *

 **About the plane part: As a student in Beihang University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, I've always imagined Dororo-kun flying a plane. I just can't help it...**


	5. Chapter 5

Their plane landed near the top. Dororo and Keroro walked towards the last level. Both of them were in grief, wishing to end all these soon.

They thought there would be a crowd of NPC, or at least some scary final boss. However, there was only a young woman sitting quietly. Her costumes looked like kimonos but were definitely not. In front of her was a tea table, and four glasses were on the table.

"Welcome." She gave them a smile, which wasn't even enough to mask the sadness in her eyes. "There will be a winner between the two of you."

Keroro relaxed. This enemy looked much less dangerous than the previous ones. "Are you keeper of the last level? What's your name?" If her name was as funny as the other four, at least he could have a good laugh.

She hesitated for a while. "My name is of no importance. Now listen to the rules. There are four glasses of drink her. Three of them are poison and one is wine. You can ask me questions. One question each. You will guess which is wine based on my answers, then both of you will drink one of them. Note that my answers won't always be true. If the hour is even number, I will tell the truth, or I will tell lies."

Keroro could only manage a "What" after hearing that. They didn't have a watch, so how could they know what time it was? And how could they find the wine among four glasses with only two questions?

Dororo began to analyze. If she was telling the truth, they could find the wine by using dichotomy twice. The first time to exclude two glasses, and the second time to confirm. But what if they couldn't verify her words?

Suddenly he remembered Kururu's hint in level 3.

When truth is false, lies are true.

He realized.

He taught Keroro how to ask the question. Although Keroro didn't get the logic, he was able to do as instructed.

Then Dororo walked towards keeper of this level. She gave him a respectful deep bow, and some jingling sound could be heard when she moved. Jewellery? No time to think about that.

"Looks like you know the solution, Dororo-kun..." She stopped halfway, changed the suffix. "Dororo-san, please." With a wave of her right hand, Keroro was surrounded by a transparent soundproof barrier.

"If I ask you 'Is the wine in the first two glasses or not' in the next hour, what's your answer?"

If she tells the truth now, she will lie in the next hour, so the final answer would be false; and if she lies now and tells the truth in the next hour, the final answer is still false. In a word, whatever she says, the opposite is the truth.

He wondered why Kururu could give them clue of the final level.

The girl smiled. "Yes." So the glass of wine wasn't in the first two.

She bowed deeply again, and he heard the clear sound of clash again. It reminded him of those crytals. Then it's Keroro's turn to ask.

Dororo had told Keroro to ask "If I ask you 'Is the wine in the fourth glass or not' in the next hour, what's your answer?". In spite of the sound barrier, he could read lips. Keroro didn't change a single word. And even if the girl answered in a language he didn't know, it's the same with the time he asked. That is to say, the third glass is safe.

Soundproof barrier disappeared. The keeper bowed for the third time. "Please choose."

Keroro told Dororo the result. "She said 'No', so the fourth one is wine. Take it. I don't want to win..." He avoided looking at him when lying. The keeper of level 5 frownen upon hearing Keroro lying but said nothing.

Dororo smiled bitterly. He'd rather believe Keroro had remembered incorrectly. Fine, finally he could escape from this game. He didn't took the third galss, neither did he took the fourth one. He picked up the second one.

After some certain trainings, assassins were immune to most poisons, but not including those unknown to Keron Army. The poison on that bear trap had paralyzed him for three days. It's like a gamble.

Keroro knocked over that glass of poison in his hand. "It suddenly occurred to me that... you don't drink, right? So... it's the same." Before Dororo could do anything to stop him, Keroro picked up the fourth glass and drank it.

"That's poisonous!" Too late. Keroro has already fell down.

"So you knew that... Sorry... for everything." Then Keroro vanished, leaving only the green crystal.

Dororo couldn't utter a single word. A friend for years just passed away, and his last words were apologies... Grief at this degree could not be washed away by tears.

"So you win this time." The female voice sounded sad, too. She presented him the black, pink, yellow and red crystals with both hands.

And now he knew where the clash sound came from. Not these crystals, but the transparent crystal chain locked on her left wrist. The other end was fixed on the ground.

He didn't took those crystals, but looked at the chain puzzled.

"As you can see, I'm merely a prisoner. After you have all the crystals, you will become god of this universe. I know you have no interest in becoming god, but you can also have god-like power and get rid of these limitations."

He couldn't care less about powers. He only wished to return to the original world. "How to revive my friends?"

She shooked her head. "Even god cannot revive dead people."

That statement deprived all his hope. Why... Why? Why! If not to find a way to save everyone, how could he stand here?! Did others die for nothing? What about their hopes? Tamama, Mois, Kururu, Giroro, Keroro... I will revenge you.

"Are you the manipulator of this game?" He asked directly, holding the hilt.

"It's my responsibility that Keroro platoon is chosen, and the Gameplay is the way you see." She replied bluntly.

He unsheathed the knife, ready to attack.

"I know my sins. If you want to kill me, do as you wish." She closed her eyes. Her arms fell to her sides.

But he couldn't do that. Just couldn't. What happened? He was an assassin! A deadly assassin! Why did he have trouble making this decision? That's a sinner who had killed many! For sins there had to be punishments.

Nevertheless, there was something that didn't fit. Is she really the manipulator? A prisoner with no freedom?

Anyway, it's time to decide.

Switching the knife to left hand, a clear cut.

Blood spilled out.

She had expected death, but she was still alive. She opened her eyes, only to find the crystal chains on the ground, along with her left hand.

"You've disregarded lives, making them killing each other, calling this a game. That's all unforgivable sins. A hand as punishment and warning." He tried his best to maintain a cold tone.

Sorry for not revenging you all... If the chains were unbreakable like the crystals, this was the only way to free her. And this was enough as a karma.

The next thing... He pointed the knife at himself. Time for reunion.

"Wait! They are still alive!" She shouted out.

The knife fell off from his hand. "What?"

"Tamama and Mois was simply taken away from this Game world, so is Kururu before the explosion. The bullets were anesthetic projectile and the 'poison' was hypnotics. They are all safe and in the space you were in before this Game start."

He didn't ask questions, so she went on. "Everything starts from a free universe independent from endless parallel universes. It has it's own space-time and dimensions. Sometimes it could connect with other universes with wormholes. During its timeless existence it gained consciousness, and started catching conscious beings from other universes like Keroro platoon and me."

"This game is a nested world in this universe, like a virtual reality game based on programs. The other four keepers were artificial intelligence. So the most important feature of this game is that it could be reset."

"One of the powers god possesses is to destroy the crystals, then the Game will automatically reset. Kururu chose it when he won in Round 1. After the reset, winner of last round could keep a little memory, but others will forget everything."

So that's why Kururu was able to predict the last level. He thought.

"But even god has limitations. Although it's possible to create anything, it's impossible to jump out of this cycle. No one could."

Dororo couldn't keep his curiosity. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" And let him to kill her? Why?

"Who doesn't hope to escape in this endless cycle?" Her reply was reasonable. "In brief, either to enjoy this world and anything in mind, or to reset the Game, you have to become the god first."

Dororo took out the blue crystal, picked up the green one, piece them together with the other four. They become a six-point star, but nothing else happens.

Yet he could feel that power. He'd only have a try, and the snow-covered Mount Fuji turned into active volcano in a second.

"Endless cycle is valueless, but what can enjoying this world achieve? If the god is away, will this cycle end?" He walked towards the crater.

She shook her head repeatly. "No, please don't... At least not so early... You could wait for a few days-"

"If my guess is wrong, it would be dangerous to stay here." He activated the emblem on his hat. "Put this envirmental regulator on, so that you won't get involved." Throwing the emblem into her right hand, then took another step towards the lava.

She was still saying something, but without the translator, he could no longer understand her words.

Looking at boiling lava, he wasn't afraid at all. Even though he couldn't return to the original world, he would only die or reset the game again. Either outcome is liberation. No more pressures.

Keroro, Giroro, Tamama, Kururu, Mois. He thought to himself. Wish you safe and well.

With one last leap, he fell into the lava lake.

On the top of Mount Fuji, only a figure could be seen.

"君无独行，彼岸相随."

On the top of Mount Fuji, only a crystal star could be seen.

Fuji volcano erupted.

Blinding white light swept the world. Data and matters disintegrated. Space and definition disassembled. Links of logic cracked. There came silence.

It was an ordinary day. The Hinatas were doing ordinary things as usual. Natsumi and Koyuki were listening to "623 my radio", Fuyuki and Momoka were doing research for occult club's next presentation. Aki was working extra hours. There was nothing unusual happening, at least not on the surface.

Dozens of meters below, five alien invaders were having their daily invasion meeting. Four keronians sat around the table, while Angol Mois stood by with a sweet smile. On the whiteboard behind her wrote countless absurd invasion plans that had been discarded.

"Why can't we come up an adequate plan?" Keroro slumped on the chair, looking at the rotating fan on the ceiling.

Giroro gave a snort of derision. "When was the last time we had an executable plan?" After staying here for two hours, he's obviously become impatient.

"56 days ago in pekopon calendar." Kururu answered casually. He leaned back on his chair with his feet on the desk, resting leisurely.

Tamama rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. In fact he paid more attention to his Coca Cola than the meeting.

Mois stepped up to massage Keroro's shoulders at the right time. "You could say, have no clue?" She didn't notice Tamama's jealousy in his eyes.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"Keroro decided to simply give up further efforts. "Enough for this meeting. Now dismiss!"

They chatted as they came into he living room. Natsumi spotted Keroro immediately. "Stupid frog, you have chores today!"

Koyuki added. "Hurry up and do as Natsumi-san said, or I will help her with the punishments!"

Keroro saluted them. "Get it!"

"Get it!" The word came out from the audio equipment. Ice-blue eyes watched the screen.

"Maybe I'm the best choice to be erased from their timeline." The black-haired man said without thinking. "I'm the last to rejoin the team, so I'm not in the life they are used to. It looks like the others didn't change much. Koyuki doesn't need a father figure either. Nothing could be better."

He turned away from the screen and smiled. "Don't you think so?"

* * *

 **I don't know who He's talking to in the last. The only thing I know is that He becomes a human.**


End file.
